


Patching Things Up

by afteriwake



Series: Simple As It Should Be [12]
Category: CSI: NY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 12:51:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just about time to try fixing all the strained relationships in the crime labs...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patching Things Up

He had started to notice that the antagonistic feelings he'd felt towards Danny were going away. How much of it was Danny undergoing some sort of personality change or how much of it was his own relationship with Lindsay blooming, he wasn't sure. But it was about time that the two of them either patched things up or let the friendship they'd had end completely.

He cornered the man in the break room one afternoon. "I think we need to talk," Flack said quietly. Danny looked up at him and blinked for a moment, then nodded.

"I need lunch," he said quickly. "Don't have much time to spare, so..."

Flack nodded. "Vendor outside."

"Sounds good."

So, Flack thought to himself, this was at least a good beginning...

\---

"Oh, this _can't_ be good," Lindsay muttered to herself.

"What can't?"

She turned and saw Maka looking at her, and then turned back and gestured to the two men leaving the labs. "Them. Leaving. Together."

A small smile played on Maka's lips. "I think they'll be all right. Let's not worry too much about them."

"And how are you so sure it won't be a repeat of the _last_ time the two of them left this building together?"

"Trust me, it won't be."

Lindsay took a good look at Maka, then glanced at the break room. "Have time for a cup of coffee?"

"Yeah, maybe a few minutes."

"Good. Let's talk."

\---

Before Flack had even gotten his mouth open, Danny looked at him. "How are things with you and Monroe?" He must have looked shocked, because Danny grinned slightly. "You don't have to answer, I was just wondering."

"They're good." The two men left the building, walked right past the spot where the fight had broken out. Flack didn't realize he'd been holding his breath till they rounded the corner.

"Yeah, she seems happier. Nervous as a rabbit when I'm around, but happier."

"She thinks it's her fault."

"It's not. Tell her I said that."

"Why don't you tell her?"

Danny shrugged. "Because I was a world class idiot and I don't really want to do or say anything to reinforce that opinion." They made it to the vendor and Danny ordered a hot dog with the works, minus the onions. Flack ordered the same, except he wanted his with onions and without relish.

"Some things don't change," Flack muttered.

"Yeah, but some things do."

\---

"Are you and Danny..." Lindsay tentatively asked as she and Maka sat at one of the break tables, each cradling a cup of coffee.

"Dating? Maybe. I don't know." She shrugged. "We hang out a lot, that's all." She didn't feel the need to mention that Danny had kissed her a few nights ago, and then the night before when they got back from a movie they'd seen together, and that it really _did_ feel like they were dating. She didn't know Lindsay well enough, she reasoned.

"Wasn't asking for details, just wondering," Lindsay muttered, looking at her cup.

Maka decided to change the subject. "You realize he thinks this whole fuck-up is his fault, right? And I agree with him for the most part. But...no one really handled it well. Except you."

Lindsay looked up. "What?"

"It's not your fault. Danny's... I swear I'd say he's growing up but in some ways, he isn't. He's still a charmer, he's still going to bend rules to get results and he's still going to think heart first, head second sometimes. Some things aren't going to change." She took a sip. "But his acknowledging that most of this whole debacle is his fault? That's a sign he's at least maturing a little."

"What part isn't his fault?"

Maka thought for a moment. "Flack probably could have picked a better time, place or way of telling him, for one. And I know, even when he's hurt, Flack knows disarming techniques. He didn't have to break Danny's nose."

Lindsay grinned slightly. "I think I'm in complete agreement with you on this, then."

"You and Flack, huh? Never really got to ask how that came about," Maka said.

She shrugged. "I went to see him when he was in the hospital and I just kept going to see him. We became friends, and then he asked me out, not long after he came back." She paused. "I was so shocked someone actually made a move. And...I _do_ like him. I think he's actually more my type than Danny ever would be."

"You don't really have to go tell Danny that. I don't want to have to nurse his bruised ego again."

"Why'd you do it in the first place?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't really know," Maka said, seeming at a loss for words. "Because he's a friend, I guess."

"The things we do for our friends."

"And the way those friendships end up getting all...weird," Maka said, sighing.

Lindsay raised her coffee cup. "I'm with you on that one."

\---

"So why aren't you still despising me?" Flack asked.

Danny shrugged. "You made a move. I didn't. Wasn't right for me to be pissed that you had the guts to do something I wouldn't."

Flack nodded, taking a bite of his hot dog. While he was chewing, he took the time to think. There was something else there, something he wasn't sure-- And then it hit him. "You've got someone else."

"Maybe."

Flack realized at that point that the friendship they had wasn't gone, just...different. It was going to be different, there was no way around it. He didn't want to push, but his natural curiosity wanted to know. He fought the urge to ask who.

"Maka," Danny said, and only then did Flack realize the whole time he'd been staring into space in front of him, Danny had been studying him. "Night of the fight she got me drunk. Nothing happened, she just got me home. Next night I felt guilty so I took her to dinner. Things just kind of...happened." He shrugged again. "She's real interesting, you know? More to her than she lets on around here. I don't know if you'd consider us dating or not, but I spend a lot of time with her these days."

"Must be why I'm noticing you're undergoing a personality change, Messer."

"Yeah?"

"You seemed...happy. Relaxed. Hell, I'd almost say content. Not like I got to see all that much, what with everyone keeping their eyes on us, but..." It was Flack's turn to shrug. "This is a start, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"We aren't going to be friends like we were, are we?"

Danny tilted his head slightly, thinking for a moment. "Maybe. It'll probably just take time if it happens."

Flack nodded. "Yeah."

\---

"If they come back with more bruises and more broken body parts, I'm going to throttle them both," Stella said as she walked into the break room. Lindsay and Maka looked up. "And don't either of you try and stop me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Maka murmured into her coffee before she took a sip, sending Lindsay into a tiny fit of giggling.

"Am I missing something here?" Stella asked.

"No, not really," Lindsay said, bringing herself under control. She looked past Stella and saw the two men emerge from the elevator. "Can't see any blood on them."

"Or disjointed noses," Maka added.

"Huh. Maybe things can get back to normal now," Stella said as she went over to the coffee pot, giving it her undivided attention now that she didn't have to worry about the two knuckleheads.

Both men tossed grins over at the two women sitting and enjoying their coffee. Lindsay felt some of the tension in her start to ebb away, glad that, maybe, things really _would_ get back to normal...

\---

She hadn't asked about what happened, and she really got the feeling he didn't want to talk about it. Other than that one topic they were both more or less ignoring, it was an overall pleasant evening, spent having a nice dinner together. It wasn't until they got to her apartment building that he grabbed her arm lightly. "This whole thing...the fight? It wasn't your fault."

"I know that, now."

Flack looked surprised for a moment. "Just thought I'd tell you. In case you didn't know."

She leaned up and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Thanks."

"Any time." He watched her walk into her building and waited until the door closed behind her. Then he touched his cheek lightly and went back to the waiting cab to head home, try and catch some sleep, and think his way through the events of the day.


End file.
